Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Verbena hybrida cultivar Bodcomblu.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Verbena plant, botanically known as Verbena hybrida, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Bodcombluxe2x80x99.
The new Verbena is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Lompoc, Calif. The objective of the breeding program is to develop new Verbena cultivars with a dense and bushy growth habit, numerous flowers; and interesting flower and foliage colors.
The new Verbena originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in April, 1989 of a proprietary Verbena hybrida selection identified as 9V161, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary Verbena hybrida selection identified as 9V174, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar Bodcomblu was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny from this cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Lompoc, Calif.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings in a controlled environment in Lompoc, Calif. has shown that the unique features of this new Verbena are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Bodcombluxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Bodcombluxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Compact, upright and mounded plant habit.
2. Freely branching habit; dense and bushy growth habit.
3. Dark green-colored leaves.
4. Dark violet-colored flowers with flowers held above and beyond the foliage.
Plants of the new Verbena differ primarily from plants of the parent selections in plant habit and flower coloration.
Plants of the new Verbena differ primarily from plants of the cultivar Bodcomburgeye, disclosed in a U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 10/684,567, in flower coloration.
Plants of the new Verbena can be compared to plants of the cultivars Obsession Blue Eye, not patented, and Novalis Deep Blue Eye, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Lompoc, Calif., plants of the new Verbena differed primarily from plants of the cultivars Obsession Blue Eye and Novalis Deep Blue Eye in plant and flower form as plants of the cultivars Obsession Blue Eye and Novalis Deep Blue Eye are more upright, less dense, and have more narrow flower petals than plants of the new Verbena. 